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Posted: 9/15/2026 7:01:58 AM EDT
[Last Edit: steelworker][Edited]
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Using brand new regular Hornet brass, how much of a load can I go? For example, my k hornet barrel likes 13.0 lil gun with 40gr Vmax bullets. Is that ok to load in a regular Hornet case but use in k hornet chamber? Bonus question: Do you prefer Hornady or Nosler brass for the Hornet? I’ve found both and they are the same price. |
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As I recall fire forming is supposed to e done with a *very* light load, like 10%. And that's after annealing the neck and shoulder. But it's been a while since I looked into it, so I'll gladly bow to superior knowledge. |
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When I fire form cases, it's with annealed cases and I use the starting load. Skip annealing and you risk cracked cases, I speak from experience here. Too light of a load will not form cases. Hot hot can you go? Get some K Hornet data and work up. Way, way too many variables with your rifle and components to just give you a load. Besides I have no experience in this caliber. Follow the load data and work up and be safe. Between the 2 brands of brass, Nosler would be my choice. Nosler is premium brass, Hornady, every day brass. Yes the K Hornet chamber is made so that Hornet brass can be fired to make K Hornet brass. |
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Shooting and Reloading, one hobby feeds the other.
Shooting and Reloading, one hobby feeds the other.
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I shoot .22 K-Hornet and .22 Hornet. I have never, in 15 years of shooting them, annealed the brass for fire- forming. I load a case with a mid-range load so that the bullet just kisses the lands and fire it. This ensures the shoulder is fully formed to the K chamber. The cases are sized in a Hornet die, then trimmed as needed before fire-forming. Hornady cases are ok, but Nosler ones are superlative; if they're the same price, its an easy choice. I have gotten up to 9 loadings in a fire-formed case. |
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It can be risky asking questions on open forums or the AI servers because of all the nefarious answers. When I started to wildcat, it was long before the internet but we still shared tribal knowledge between shooters, and especially the part of the community that was into varmint, BR, etc. because a lot of what we used was not standard stuff. To being with, just getting a reamer and chambering done took serious leg work. By the time you acquired a wildcat, you already had a good idea of what you would do for brass prep. There isn't much difference in the case volume between the parent Hornet and the K Hornet, so you can use (hunt with) the fireform shots. Most examples shoot these pretty well. Any standard pressure recipe for the parent Hornet case can be run to fireform K Hornet because the headspace is going to run from the rim on that shot and form the new shoulder. You don't want powder puffs or high pressure, just regular Hornet ammo will do fine. I didn't feel the need to jam on these because the forming was done in the fields and one might need to unload without sticking a bullet. Because of the original rim, I never had an ignition problem. When there was such a thing as commercial Hornet ammo, we just shot it and I didn't have trouble with splits. I do anneal the donor virgin brass up front, just because it is easy for me and I try to keep that brass running for the life of the barrel. Good luck and in for the range reports. |
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